Sandy Silverthorne - The Awesome Book of Bible Stories for Kids: What If...*Samson was your PE teacher?*David vs. Goliath was on TV?*Moses had a GPS?

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

Cover by Left Coast Design, Portland, Oregon

THE AWESOME BOOK OF BIBLE STORIES FOR KIDS

Copyright 2011 by Sandy Silverthorne
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com

ISBN 978-0-7369-2923-3 (paperback)
ISBN 978-0-7369-4537-0 (eBook)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 / BP-SK / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To my beautiful Vicki, whose encouragement
and laughter bless my life beyond measure;

to Christy, whose humor and grace are such gifts to so many,

and to the great kids I have the privilege
to speak to and share with.

Youre the best!

What if

What if

W hat if Gideon competed on a game show? What if John the Baptist sat in as a morning radio personality? Or what if Joshuas fight against Jericho inspired a video game? The Bible introduces us to some remarkable real-life people and amazing but true storiesgiants who challenge Gods people, everyday folks who become unlikely heroes, and one Guy who even controls the weather! We read about floods and battles and betrayals and people getting healed. Its all so exciting and real, you might feel like doing what Zacchaeus didclimbing up a tree so you can get a good look at Jesus.

This book presents some favorite Bible stories in modern settings and with some techno-gadgets and accessories you and I enjoy today. For example, nobody had a GPS in Moses time. But what if he miraculously got his hands on one? Would that have helped him get to the Promised Land any sooner? And when David, the little shepherd boy from Bethlehem, fought the giant Goliath, TV cameras werent there to broadcast the big event to the world. But what if a sports network had televised this incredible underdog success story? Would that be something worth playing on our TiVos over and over for our friends? Of course it would! See how fun it is to journey through the Bible with a time twist?

The stories in this book ask the question, what if? What if a weather network reported on Noahs flood? Or Joseph and his brothers appeared on a daytime talk show? Or Nehemiah rebuilt the Jerusalem wall on Nehemiahs Extreme Makeover, Jerusalem Edition? Our retellings of these stories will give you a laugh, and they will also give you a new perspective of what was really going on long ago. We hope youll enjoy reading and discovering the lessons God wants all of us to learn.

Would you like to make this book even more fun? Get out your Bible and double-check to make sure just what really did happen in each of these accounts. To make that easier, the Scripture references are listed in the Get Real section following every story. So get ready to see what would have happened if

I n the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Think of it. He made everythingoceans, mountains, rivers, stars, planets, flowers, and every single animal. God made Adam and his wife, Eve, and placed them in the most beautiful spot on earth, the Garden of Eden.

One day, God gave Adam an assignmentto take care of the garden and tend the animals. He even let Adam come up with a name for each critter. But what if an animal network filmed a documentary in the Garden of Eden before Adam had a chance to name all the creatures? It might have looked something like this

NARRATOR: The Garden of Edenan incredible wonderland of waterfalls, lush green forests, deep clear pools, and emerald rolling hills. Everywhere you look, you see Gods fingerprints, including thousands of beautiful plants and all kinds of animals living together in an oasis of splendid beauty. This is the beautiful spot where God chose to begin life on our planet.

NARRATOR: One majestic, four-footed creature surveys the landscape. This beautiful specimen silently pads through the underbrush. It truly is the king of beasts. In every way he lives up to his name ofuh, Im not sure. What is his name? What do you call him, Adam?

ADAM: Hmmm. Havent seen him before. Why dont we call him a lion? Yeah, thats good. LionI like the sound of that.

NARRATOR: This lion has three delightful little?

ADAM: Cubs. Yeah, cubs. They look like cubs.

NARRATOR: They follow their father, imitating him and learning from him.

NARRATOR: Across the river is agroup?

ADAM: No, a herdlets say herd.

NARRATOR: Okay, a herd of

ADAM: Oh, I dont knowsalamanders? No, not salamanders. How about giraffes? That sounds pretty good. And they are a bit funny looking! Yescall them giraffes.

NARRATOR: And here we see a baby giraffe.

NARRATOR: The giraffes lead their baby to the watering hole, where many other species gather and drink freely. Joining them are

ADAM: Oh, wow. Lets seea cheetah, gazelles, elephants, hyenas, and the Empire State Building. No, that doesnt sound right. Uh, a zebra. Yeah, thats better. Zebra. And a couple of hippos. Yeah, hippos. I really should write this down. Whew. This naming game is fast paced.

Narrator: The first man

ADAM: Adam. You can call me Adam. That I do know. God called me that.

NARRATOR: is learning how to take care of the garden and tend to the animals. Its a challenging task.

ADAM: Oh, but I dont do it alone. Heres my beautiful wife. I call her Beatrice.